Seiken Densetsu 3: What if
by CTCCFFnut
Summary: What if the people in Elrand didn't find Angela in the Sub-Zero Snowfield? Lame Summary, but it'll do.
1. Chapter 1

Angela walked along the icy plateau, shivering from the icy cold wind beating at her frail, lithe body. She certainly was not dressed for the occasion, wearing only a red leotard and matching purple boots and gloves. Her mother Valda, the Queen of Reason, had just announced to her that she was planning an invasion of all the other lands and release the power of their Mana Stones to open a gate to the Mana Holyland. She said that Angela was to sacrifice her life when she unleashed the power of the Mana Stone of Water, which resided in the kingdom of Altena, as the only way to unleash the power was to sacrifice someone's life. Valda justified this by claiming that she is a shame of the royal family because Angela couldn't use magic, and that sacrificing your life for such a noble cause was a fitting demise. A mysterious force then teleported her away from the castle she resided in and she appeared outside the gates. When she saw she couldn't get back in, she began her trek from the castle she had lived all her life.

She had walked for about an hour and the cold had really set in. Her arms and legs were completely numb and had several cuts that been inflicted on her by the local monsters around Altena. She had beaten them off with her wooden cane that she had brought along, but she still sustained injuries. She eventually come to a crossroad of sorts. One way was North, from which she had just came. There were two paths to the East, but she could see that the upper path lead to a dead-end and that the lower path had enemies that would be too difficult for her to defeat. The path going South, however had no such enemies there, so for Angela, it was a no-brainer. She followed the path South and found herself on an ice bridge with water and icebergs to either side. The bridge was normally surrounded by land, but since this was in the middle of Summer, the slopes around it had melted, causing melted snow water to cover it.

'The drop must be at least 200 feet down!' she thought frantically. ' I'd better be careful here.' She eased her feet on to the bridge and slowly walked along the thin path. 'One wrong move and I'll fall in and certainly die on impact' Angela thought pessimistically. Eventually, she made it across. She hurriedly continued along the path, hoping to find shelter from the cold and a place to sleep.

Hours passed by, and no such shelter appeared. After a few minutes of walking quickly, she lost most of her strength, and slowed down. She could barely make small steps at this point. Angela was feeling very weary at this point, and collapsed on to the ground with exhaustion, her polished wooden cane falling next to her.

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	2. Chapter 2

Angela woke up, still on the freezing cold ground she collapsed on. A thin sheet of snow coated her body from head to toe like a blanket. She slowly got up, brushing the snow off her body. She tried to stand up, but fell as soon as she put weight on her legs. She saw that it was getting dark, and deduced that it was nearing night. She tried to stand again, this time using her cane for support, and succeeded after a few minutes. She started walking down the path, using her staff as a walking stick. Luckily, there were no monsters around, so she didn't have to defend herself. She came to another intersection, this time with a path going left and one going right. She took the right path and found a golden mana statue. She approached it and tentatively touched one of its wings. Instantly, mana rushed into her body, healing her wounds and taking some of the bite of the wind away. Angela felt invigorated and happily skipped back to the intersection. She walked down the left path for a few minutes and found a large cave in front of her.

"What luck!" she exclaimed excitedly. She ran into the cave. She saw that the cave was slightly warmer than outside, and decided that this would be where she would rest for the night. As she started to lie down, however, she saw a gigantic stone gently hovering over the ground. Angela could feel the mana radiating from it.

"So, this must be the Mana stone mother was talking about." Angela whispered. She approached it slowly, taking in its size. Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind it, floating on air like the stone. Angela instinctively drew her staff, holding it in her hands in a fighting stance. The figure seemed female, had pale blue skin, held a trident in her right hand and a golden bracelet on her right wrist. She had the figure of a mermaid, with a tail and seemed to have fish fins for ears.

"Hello, Angela." The figure said melodically, her voice giving Angela a feeling that she felt in her very bones. "I am Undine, Mana Spirit of Water. I sensed that you are a person of good intentions and have decided to aid you."

"How can you do that?" Angela asked rudely, though she did lower her weapon.

"I sense you are troubled by the fact that you are unable to wield magic for yourself. I can teach you." Undine replied, unfazed by Angela's reaction.

"Really?"

"Yes. Now, come closer." Undine beckoned to Angela. She slowly and quietly walked up to her. Undine touched Angela's shoulder, Angela shivering at the touch. "I shall lend you my power." Angela felt strong power flow into her from Undine. She felt immense happiness, because she knew she would be able to cast magic. Undine removed her hand from Angela's shoulder.

"Thank you." said Angela. She was eager to use her newly found magical powers, but she decided to be polite first. Who knows, maybe Undine would take it back if she wasn't polite. Angela turned to leave.

"Angela?" Angela spun back around. "I require your assistance."

"What is it about?" Angela asked.

"The Mana Stones. I sense that my kindred are in danger. We must help them." Undine explained. "I cannot do this myself, as I need a host body to reside in to be able to stray from these boundaries." She gestured around the cave.

Angela started to contemplate it, but Undine didn't wait for an answer. She floated over to Angela and touched her forehead with two fingers. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She started go into Angela's body and soon disappeared.

"Ahh!" Angela cried out.

'Shh, it's all right.' whispered a voice in her mind Angela recognised as Undine's. 'Rest.'

Angela suddenly felt very sleepy, so she laid on the ground and soon fell asleep.

'Let's go.' a voice spoke in Angela's head, waking her up. It was Undine. Angela rubbed her eyes and got up. surprisingly enough, she felt quite warm for someone who had just slept in an icy cave. She assumed Undine had something to do with it. She got up and walked out of the cave. She saw that it was morning outside.

Upon contemplating what Undine did the previous night, she felt rather irritated, especially because she did it without her permission. However, she knew it must have been necessary. The cold didn't seem to affect her not nearly as much as it did before, so she arrived at the intersection very quickly. She decided to head up this time and ran along the path. She ran for 20 minutes, then slowed to a swift walk. She arrived at the icy slope after about an hour. She quickly, but carefully, ran along the ice bridge. She once again arrived at an intersection, this time going to the lower-right path. To the north, she heard voices. She hid behind a pillar of rock in the middle of the path she had entered. She turned her head to see who it was. It was her mother, flanked by Koren and twelve of her personal soldiers. Eleven of those soldiers were surrounding the others in a tight circle. Valda, Koren and the last soldier was in the middle, protected from the bitter wind surrounding them. Angela couldn't see the face of the soldier in the middle, but she seemed familiar to her eyes.

"So, are you ready for your task?" Valda asked.

"Yes." replied the girl in a small, awe-stricken voice. It was then that Angela realised who it was, and gasped. Angela covered her mouth, hoping the sound wouldn't attract the attention of the guards. It didn't.

'That's Isabel!' Angela thought, worry crossing her face. Isabel had been Angela's friend for 10 years, since she was 6 years old. Recently, though, they'd had a falling out. Isabel was Angela's last friend, aside from Victor, who really cared about her.

After a moment, she realised where they were going, and why. 'They're going to the Mana Stone! And,' Angela gulped. 'Isabel's the sacrifice!' Every fibre of Angela's being wanted to run out there, to stop her mother, and beg her to take her instead. But she didn't. She knew that she had a job to do. So, silently, she turned around and walked down the path she had taken.


End file.
